Rural Damascus Provincial Council Sends Letter to Turkish President Urging a Halt to Onslaught on Eastern Ghouta

The humanitarian tragedy in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta continues to worsen as bombardment on populated areas by the Assad regime and its allies continues unabated. The UN Security Council on Friday failed once again to take action to put an end to the carnage in the besieged Damascus suburb.

Rural Damascus Provincial Council, which is part of the Syrian Interim Government’s Ministry of Local Administration, sent a letter to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan via the Syrian Coalition calling for urgent action to protect women and children in eastern Ghouta and prevent a ground assault by Assad regime forces and the Iranian militias on the area. The Council warned of possible atrocities should regime forces and their allied foreign militias storm the area.

The letter also urged the Turkish President to work to ensure the siege is completely lifted given the big impact such move will have at the international and Islamic levels.

A video showing a grieving Syrian family in eastern Ghouta whose son was killed in the Assad regime’s aerial bombardment went viral on social media sites on Friday. Grandfather of the slain child, who was on the verge of nervous breakdown, said he wanted the kid to die so that he suffers no more agony. The video exemplified the tragic humanitarian conditions and the plight of civilians trapped in eastern Ghouta.

Eastern Ghouta has been under tightened siege for five years. The siege has been accompanied by constant bombing by regime forces claiming the levies of thousands of civilians and causing massive destruction in the Damascus suburb. Moreover, dozens have died of hunger, disease, and injury as the blockade has caused severe shortages of food and medical supplies.

According to the UN, more than 400 people were killed and around 1,000 others in the relentless bombardment on eastern Ghouta in the past four days. Local activists confirmed that the Assad regime and its allies are using internationally banned weapons, such as the white phosphorus, in the attacks on eastern Ghouta.

In a press conference held on Friday, Vice-President of the Syrian Coalition Salwa Aksoy called for preventing Russia from voting on any draft resolution related to Syria as Russia is a main party to the war against the Syrian people. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)